Sharing is Caring: Roasted Garlic

The second you have some kind of cognitive understanding of the world around you, one of the first phrases you are knocked over the head with repeatedly is; “Learn to Share”.

This – When indisputably the only words beyond your toddler reasoning are, “MINE!” or “GIMME!”

Why do they make you share, exactly?

Well sillies’, sharing is caring 101. When you share, it invites others to share. You cannot successfully enter society unless you are willing to share. Hermits don’t share. Sure, they try to convince you otherwise, but hermits get lonely. You don’t want to be a hermit. You need friends, and thus, you share – And this can lead to new exciting experiences. I like experiences…

So in the interest of sharing, here I share a few “me” tidbits:

I spent an entire summer watching the movie Dirty Dancing. I watched it so much I know the movie word for word. My mom was so fed up with what she referred to as “esa maldita pelicula” (that effing movie) that she threw my video tape away. Yes, I said video tape. And yes, I may have some deep rooted unresolved issues on account of this.

I laugh at every joke from the movie “Airplane!” no matter how many times I watch it. I copied down the funniest quotes from this film and I read them when I have a bad day. This is my favorite scene:

I associate practically every event or moment with a song. If you expect me to remember something in extreme detail, make sure there’s music playing in the background. To this day every time I hear The Pharcyde’s“Passing Me By”, I remember how my cousin’s boyfriend kept referring to a certain movie as “Jurrastic Park“.

I owned a pair of bright purple rain boots that I wore every time I was sure it would rain… On purpose – just to see if I could illicit some sort of Pavlovian response in people; then I wore them for fun on semi-cloudy days… A couple of people did run out to purchase umbrellas. There’s no telling what a pregnant woman will find hilarious.

I roasted garlic for you… About 42 cloves in olive oil… One thing I feel must always, always be shared is garlic breath. Never go it alone. Garlic breath is a joint venture, a team effort. Pick your favorite person and roast garlic. Hold hands, share it… Sing a song, do a little dance. Your house will smell like garlic heaven and you may be tempted to make a garlicky love connection…

Unless you are a vampire, you’re going to dig this. Don’t fight it, just trust me. You’re going to find like a million uses for this roasted garlic. I’ve been using it on EVERYTHING, but you can use it on cooked pasta, or spread it on bread. You can also use it as an aromatic base in your rice pilafs or sauces. Use it in your soups! You can also use the extremely infused garlic olive oil to marinate your meats – Whatever you want – Just go for it!

40-42 large cloves of garlic, peeled

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the peeled garlic cloves in an oven safe dish (I used a glass Pyrex dish) and pour the oil over the garlic cloves. Make sure the garlic is completely covered.

Cover the top of the dish with a piece of aluminum foil and press it snuggly around the perimeter of the dish.

Place the dish on a baking tray and place the baking tray in the oven. Bake for about an hour.

Remove the tray/dish from the oven and allow it to cool completely before removing the foil.

Store the oil and cloves in a glass container with non-reactive lid in the refrigerator. I used 2 6oz mason jars because I wanted to store some garlic infused olive oil separately.

The recipe says it will keep for 5 days, but I kept it for about 10 and we’re still alive.

Preparation time: Depends on how quickly you peel garlic. I usually smash the cloves with the flat side of a chef’s knife and peel in seconds.

You can also roast the cloves unpeeled, or even as a whole head of garlic (just chop the top off a bit, pour some olive oil, salt and pepper on top, and wrap in parchment paper. Roasting them in their peels makes them softer and less likely to burn, and it’s fun to squish them out after.